Fines for dodgy NDIS providers will jump almost 40-fold under new laws aimed at improving safety for participants and cracking down on rorters within the scheme.
Under the new legislation, announced today by NDIS Minister Bill Shorten, providers could face fines of more than $15 million if a participant is injured in their care – up from $400,000.
The move brings the fine for harming a participant in line with that for harming a worker and was labelled “well overdue” by Shorten.
“It is really ridiculous, isn’t it, when we stop to think about it,” he said.
“It’s good that if you hurt a worker going to work that we throw the book at you with massive fines.
“But a person on the NDIS also deserves to have the same sort of safeguards. And that’s what we’re doing. We’re making sure that when you’re on the NDIS that you’re safe and that you’re receiving quality support.”
The legislation will also allow the NDIS Commission to refer providers for criminal prosecution, a power it currently does not have.
“I want to make sure that for the dodgy NDIS providers, you just go,” Shorten said.
“We don’t want to see you. Just get off the scheme, disappear. Go climb back under the rocks from where you came.
“This is not free government money. People with disability are not human ATMs, and we are going to do everything we can to make sure the NDIS is the world-leading scheme and that it continues to change hundreds of thousands of lives for the better.”
The federal government will seek consultation on the bill before tabling it in parliament.
